Shami, Yitzḥaq

(741 words)

Born in Hebron, Yitzḥaq Shami (1888–1949) was the son of Eliyahu Sarwi, a textile merchant from Damascus who was known as ash-Shami (“the Damascene”). As a adult he adopted his father’s sobriquet as his literary and legal surname. Shami grew up bilingual, speaking Arabic with his father and Ladino (see Judeo-Spanish) with his mother, a native of Hebron who belonged to the Sephardic Castel family. He became familiar with the daily life of the Arab villagers and Bedouins of the Hebron region because of his father’s business activities and attend…